What If?
by Clockworkbrothers
Summary: What would happen if Piper died? What about Frank or Nico? How would the others react?


Leo kneeled next to her, curly hair getting into his itchy eyes. If it were another world, he would have said it were the allergies. It wasn't. She looked so pale, so lifeless, so dead. Except her chest moved up and down and her eyes shot back and forth. The wound on her stomach looked terrible, blood spread along her shirt and seeped out of the broken skin.

Nothing would help her now. No pressure, no bandages or stitches. She was walking towards Death with a skip. Leo took her shivering hand with his hot one. She looked too scared to be Piper. Piper was not scared, she feared but she fought. She cried but she screamed. She was the strongest person Leo knew.

Strength didn't come in muscles.

* * *

_"Valdez! Why would you do that?"_

_"Oh come on Beauty Queen they were asking for it."_

_"So you told the nymphs they were planning on burning down some trees?"_

* * *

Her head jerked towards him, eyes wide. She opened her mouth to speak yet nothing would voice. The pain was too much to bear. She couldn't even speak. How cruel was that? How cruel was a demigod life?

Leo could hear Hazel screaming, Annabeth yelling, Frank roaring, Jason punching and kicking. They were losing. They were losing a fight that hadn't even began. How did that work?

At least Piper wouldn't be there to see their failure. Leo could take some relief with that. It eased the guilt. He should have been fighting, shooting flames of fire at monsters, saving Frank's butt and bragging to Percy about how many monsters he'd killed. He should be screaming for Piper to keep fighting even though it'd be a waste. He should be avenging her death by killing the thing that killed her. Yet she was alive. Leo couldn't leave her. How could he leave her?

It was all so surreal. Piper was dying. Piper wasn't supposed to die. Yet he was holding her hand feeling the heat run out, watching her face pale to white, her eyes flutter shut. Where was Jason? Leo shouldn't have to go through this alone. He didn't deserve it. He ran away to save the ones he loved and it turned out it never helped. Where was everyone? How could they not see this? They were so caught up in saving the world they forgot what they were saving it for. Who they were saving it for. The lives of people, demigods. They fought to live, and they couldn't even save a girl.

What did the Gods have to say to that?

* * *

_"Come on Pipes-"_

_"Don't call me that.."_

_"Why not? You can call me the Awesome Flame Master if you want to."_

_"Leo..."_

_"See you're laughing!"_

_"Well Awesome Flame if you're going to be like that."_

* * *

Leo wanted to say her name. Piper. He wanted to whisper it'd be fine. She'd go to Elysium. She'd wait for him and Jason and all their friends. She'd laugh and ask them what took so long. She'd hug Hazel and smirk at Frank. It was going to be fine. It was going to be alright. That was what Leo's mom used to say to ease him through the nightmares. Why couldn't he say that to Piper? Why couldn't he ease her through her death? Can you even do that? Ease a person as they fall to Death? Was that how it worked? Leo wondered if he'd have to this again. If he'd have to watch Frank die, and hold Hazel's hand, and cry over Jason's limp body. . Why hadn't he run when he could?

Leo gently reached out with his other hand and brushed Piper's hair out of her eyes. He bent down and whispered as loud as he could, as soft as he wanted,

"See you Piper."

And she smiled. Because Leo had said her name, he had said her name. Multiple nicknames, and labels and jokes and teases and _finally_ he said her name. Leo breathed out and inhaled slowly. And then her eyes shut closed like a light switch. Her chest went flat, her palm cold. Piper.

Piper was dead.

Dead.

How could such a living girl be so dead?

What did Death want with her?

Leo watched his own tears drop, dripped onto her face, slide down her cheeks as if hers. Something inside Leo broke. This chord of happiness and jokes and memories. It flooded out and all Leo could see through each blur of a tear was Piper. Piper laughing, crying, screaming, shouting, singing, climbing up the stairs, and smacking Leo on the head for being stupid. Piper living, breathing. Piper sitting in front of Leo in class and turning around to grin at him and say,

_"My Gods Leo."_

Leo heard Jason cry out. He heard Hazel sob and call for Piper. He heard Percy give a roar of anger and Annabeth a sound of anguish for the friend they had lost. Anger burned through Leo. They hadn't known Piper, a few weeks on a ship was nothing. Even Jason wasn't enough. _Leo_ was Piper's friend. From the beginning it had been them and only them. No war, no monsters, no running. Just them. Piper had made Leo want to stay. He stayed. She left.

She died.

And once again Leo was alone.

* * *

_"Hey. __You seem to be alone."_

_"You seem to be too."_

_"Well I propose an idea. __We should stop being alone."_

_"Okay?"_

_"Good you're a listener. Let's be friends."_

_"Shouldn't I know your name first?"_

_"So eager to know! I am Leo Valdez."_

_"Piper Mclean."_

_"Nice to meet you Peeper."_

_"Pleasure is all mine."_

* * *

**So this is my first fanfiction. Um sorry if it was sad. Honestly I've always wanted to write this. I will be writing more, featuring all the characters deaths (The main ones). I think I plan on doing Frank's next, I'm not sure. **

**Thank you for reading! (I'm guessing you did since you're reading this.)**

**-CB **


End file.
